Matt Bower, a SUNY-Geneseo student and volunteer with Livingston Cares, based in upstate New York, uses a crowbar to remove chunks of ceiling and insulation from a home that was destroyed by the Hurricane Sandy storm surge. On the cover, Sam Argentieri and Trevor Ramsey from the same group work to pull up floor tiles.Photo Courtesy of Keith Walters

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The folks from SUNY Geneseo aren’t the type to stop in once and never be seen again.

When Hurricane Katrina struck the South nearly eight years ago, a number of students and faculty members from the Upstate New York college flew south to provide assistance. Each time around, new students replaced those who had graduated.

The school continued its effort following Hurricane Sandy, and last week, 20 members of the SUNY Geneseo community — 14 students, five staff members, and a volunteer not affiliated with the college — visited Staten Island to lend a hand.

The volunteers are part of a larger group called Livingston Cares, which encompasses SUNY Geneseo and its county, Livingston.

“It was pretty remarkable,” said supervisor Chuck Reyes, SUNY Geneseo’s director of environmental health and safety. “We had a great group of people. It means a lot to us to help these people out.” 

WHAT THEY DID

Reyes and others visited nine separate residences located in Zone A in the communities of New Dorp Beach, Ocean Breeze, and Oakwood Beach, including Kissam Avenue, said Reyes.

Every night, following eight-plus hours of gutting homes, the volunteer crew slept comfortably at the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Sea View, where they also enjoyed breakfast and lunch during their week’s stay.

Livingston Cares and its SUNY Geneseo students pinpointed Staten Island as the location they would assist because of Alyssa Stefanese, a fellow college student whose family was impacted by Sandy. Ms. Stefanese is also the former JCC Youth Board president. She reached out to the JCC to form a connection between the West Shore-based center and her school.

“The JCC, as part of the UJA Federation of NY’s Connect to Recovery Program has been actively engaged in helping Staten Islanders in the long recovery from Sandy,” said Glenn Wechsler, youth department director of the JCC. “The fact that we could host these students in their extraordinary efforts to help the victims is both a privilege and honor.”

Wechsler said the assistance demonstrates the commitment of the JCC to the community.

Bethel United Methodist Church in Tottenville assisted Livingston Cares by directing the volunteers to folks in need. 

REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE

Reyes said many students said it was the best trip they ever took.

“We were tired in the end, but it was an amazing experience,” he said. “People whose homes were hit were very thankful. These people have just lost everything, and many of them bought us lunch. It was a nice, heart-felt gesture.”

Following Katrina, the group targeted Biloxi, Miss., because all of the attention was given to New Orleans. They’ve visited the Mississippi location 26 times and Tom Matthews, head of the group, spoke to the Advance Monday from Biloxi.

Livingston Cares is more than just the college’s work, he explained.

“We decided we’d call it after the county, so there would always be that county identification,” Matthews explained. “It would signal it was a college and community program.”

Matthews, the associate dean of leadership and service at Geneseo, said 700 people have received help in Biloxi, and efforts are still being made to bring normalcy back to that area of Mississippi.

“It’s still continuing,” he said, hopeful the effort will also continue in Staten Island in March when the school is on spring break.